Numerous waste disposal devices exist including those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,612,099, 6,804,930, 6,851,251, 7,114,314, 7,146,785, 7,316,100, 7,434,377, 7,503,152, 7,503,159, 7,617,659, 7,708,188 and 7,712,285, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. Additionally, innovative waste disposal devices are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/637,252 filed Dec. 14, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,963,414, also incorporated by reference herein.
In addition, waste disposal devices are disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/172,715 filed Jul. 14, 2008, 12/172,758 filed Jul. 14, 2008, 12/172,793 filed Jul. 14, 2008 and 13/161,764 filed Jun. 16, 2011, as well as U.S. provisional patent application Ser. Nos. 61/366,221 filed Jul. 21, 2010, 61/362,159 filed Jul. 7, 2010, and 61/409,188 filed Nov. 2, 2010, all of which are incorporated by reference herein. Non-provisional applications of the '221 and '159 applications are being simultaneously filed, and have been assigned Ser. Nos. 13/172,976 and 13/172,968, respectively, and are incorporated by reference herein.
Some of these waste disposal devices include a twisting assembly arranged in a container to form a twist in a bag or tubing into which waste is inserted through a membrane associated with the twisting assembly. Automatic twisting of the bag or tubing is provided, e.g., upon closure of a lid that results in rotation of the twisting assembly through a gear-containing rotation mechanism. On the other hand, when the lid is opened, the same rotation mechanism prevents untwisting of the bag or tubing, thereby providing the advantage of maintaining a twist in the bag or tubing and sealing in odor from the deposited waste.
It has now been found by the inventor herein, and not believed to have been previously appreciated, that it would be desirable to couple the opening of the lid with untwisting or unknotting of the bag or tubing to better facilitate insertion of waste, without permanently altering the control of the rotation mechanism to provide for this ability, i.e., maintaining the ability of the opening of the lid to avoid untwisting of the bag or tubing. This thereby enables a user to have the ability to either untwist or not untwist the bag or tubing upon opening the lid.